December 2, 2010

Mark Richt rebuilt the Georgia Bulldog football program in 2001 on the core premise of Finishing the Drill. The idea was simple. If we work harder than the other guys, we're going to win the fourth quarter and therefore the game. (Image by Jim Hipple)

There's been lots of bitching and moaning here and elsewhere about our strength program. The crux of the argument usually sounds like this, "Look at us getting mauled at the line of scrimmage." Or "I hear bad things about S&C." Beyond that the feedback is usually either very vague or full of innuendo.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know what goes on in the weight room. But you know what? I don't care. I don't give a damn if they try ballet, dabble in yoga, bust rocks or replicate the Siberian Workout Scene from Rocky IV. The process is of no interest to me. All I care about is the outcome.

This year against BCS opposition, Georgia was outscored in the fourth quarter/OT in 8 of 10 games by a combined score of 54 UGA to 88 opposition. In the six losses, the numbers are even more lopsided at 37-61. That point differential is an unacceptable outcome.

This isn't a symptom of some larger issue. This is one of the DNA-level problems that Coach Richt has to resolve between now and next season, and it's not going to be solved by touting fake 40 yard dash times or making field trips the swimming pool.

24
comments:

Sounds like S&C is the fan's choice for this season's fall guy. I'm alright with that, especially as I'm a Bobo supporter. Another interesting thing in my mind is the chances that Rodney Garner leaves the program? I thought maybe he'd want to recover his reputation by distancing himself from Martinez, but may decide that long term he's not in the most stable position.

My question is: don't our S&C coaches attend conferences every year with other coaches in the SEC to learn new techniques? Are all the SEC S&C coaches not being taught basically the same things? I guess I'm asking, how do you fix this problem? Is it as simple as firing Van Halanger or just sending him to more conferences or bringing someone in from the NFL? I just find it hard to believe that our training techniques are that much different from the other schools.

The only reason why CMR keeps Rodney on staff is because he can recruit. He is a mediocre d-line coach at best. As for the S&C program, there needs to be an entire new staff brought in. Dave is not cutting it. It is bad when other teams are stating how tired our players look.

My contacts who have attended mat drills the last few years are saying that what is happening in those is woefully short of what is happening at other schools in the running area. As far as weights go the same seems to be true. We haven't won on the line of sctimmage against a decent team in years. I guess that's why McGarity is going to cupcakes rather than granite on the schedule, so we can beat up someone half our size.

Well it didn't take long for Richt to rain on our parade. He appoints Joe T and John Kasey as S&C coaches. Lets see if we can dig up Wayne McDuffie and get him to coach Oline. This was another dumb move on his part right up there with McClendon as a RB coach who can't teach something he doesn't know. With Richt's coaching moves the rest of the SEC is just glad he's still around.

This year against BCS opposition, Georgia was outscored in the fourth quarter/OT in 8 of 10 games by a combined score of 54 UGA to 88 opposition. In the six losses, the numbers are even more lopsided at 37-61.

Jeez.

This is just horrible stats work.

You removed 2 games to skew your numbers. Adding those back we get a 66-76 margin in UGA's 10 4th quarters (+ 1 OT) against BCS opponents.

And that from an extremely small sample size of 10 quarters of football.

Strength and conditioning coaches make about 1-2% of the total staff salary at major programs. That's probably a good indicator of how much their performance is correlated with win percentages.

Ginny -- You nailed it. So much of this S&C narrative is waaay overstated. Training methods and techniques become commoditized very quickly, through the processes you mention (seminars, conferences, consultants, visits w/ other schools/staffs, etc.,). Just like business consultants who share the same methodologies, business processes and strategies across the same competitors -- so is the same with S&C innovations. Any competitive advantage innovations get copied almost immediately. There a very few innovators as there are few origional ideas, but there are a world full of copy cats. People act as though UGA's S&C program has been centered around a program of jumping jacks, push-ups and deep squat thrust. Frankly, I don't know what all they do, but I have faith that they are doing many of the same things that everyone else is doing. The difference may be in the discipline, motivation, intensity, of players and staff alike.

Everything we know about Joe T. says that he has intensity and can be a foot up the ass type of motivator. Whatever the case, S&C is but one component of a much broader overhaul that is going on and only time will tell if this is the right move.

I read somewhere about a lack of D line talent in the state of GA over the past few years. While you can "coach up" players, there is a limit. Look at D line players on other teams and see how many are from GA. Then look back at the rankings from the various services. I bet you see few from GA.

No Columbia, you've got it all wrong. This hire will make THE critical difference for UGA for years to come. You just need to support Richt, no matter what half-ass move he makes, because he's a great guy and he just had to fire his old pal Willie last year and now he's having to move his running buddy. I mean, what do you expect for millions of dollars a year? Fire? Competitiveness? Unquenchable thirst for victory? Come on. Get with it.

I often see former GA all-american OL from 1985, Pete Anderson, at the Y here in Jacksonville. Bumped into him yesterday and we're chatting about things. Pete is a great guy, understated performer, and professional. He's still damn big and in great shape. His comment about the Joe T and Casay combo was "those guys were MY s&t coaches at UGA. Seems we could have done better than that".

His primary concern was getting men at retirement age (65) to motivate and connect with today's 18 year old athletes. I agree and hate to say it but this looks like a very flawed move.